Interesting salary source – It's The Economy, Stupid

If you are having a slow day at work or other free time, you may want to check out this site. It give current wage rates by a number of different categories (education, industry, occupation, age, etc.). The frequency of observations is quite low but nevertheless there is some interesting data that should feed into public policy.

For example, a lot of you folks love small business and chastise those evil large corporations that are sucking the life out of local economies (sarcastic emphasis added). I have reported to you in the past that small businesses offer considering less benefits (pensions, health plans, etc.) than large businesses. This chart shows the median salaries by company size. You will note that wages basically increase by the size of company. It is interesting to note that businesses with 20,000 to 50,000 employees (worldwide) have a low median wage in Moncton. That is because in this specific market, that segment is dominated by call centre companies which do offer lower median wages.

Another interesting chart relates to sector. I have said that New Brunswick (and Moncton) needs more higher paying private sector jobs. I think it is increasingly problematic to rely heavily on the public sector as a primary economic development tool. Look at the wages rates below by sector. This is an important chart for public policy makers because it tells us that by far the sectors that are contributing most to the tax base (government, health care) are the sectors that use the tax base. The median salary differential between a company employee and a Federal government employee in Moncton is 20%. Using the exact same source, the differential between a company employee and a Federal government employee in Toronto is 5%.

Actually, the trick is to get a Federal government job in Moncton. You are paid higher (relative to the overall median) and your cost of living is lower 🙂